Yusypch

//Yusypchuk: Learning Motivation and Fun Analysis//
 //View// the assignment page //for a more detailed explanation of this project.

In this exercise, you'll collect data from our database of interviews about fun and learning. Use this template and the data to create 5 generalizations for what you observed. Your generalizations should answer the questions//
 * //What makes learning fun and engaging?//
 * //What are the implications for your own teaching and design work//

3) High school students almost universally reported that physical activity was an element in the experiences they called "fun".//** //Bill W, for example described learning beginning archery skills at boy scout camp. Sallie Forth recalled a social studies class in which "we recreated in chicken wire and paper mache the battlefield at Shiloh and spent several class periods reconstructing the events there." All together there were 24 experiences that took place during high school years and all but 1 included physical activity. In most cases (19 out of 24) these activities also required creative or critical thinking.//
 * //Example:

My 5 Generalizations
1) **Competition, as a fun and motivating factor in learning experiences, is seen as important at earlier stages in life, but dramatically //decreases// as a preferred part of the learning experience as age //increases//.**

The age breakdown where high competition was an integral part of the social learning environment is, as follows. //Note, the first number is the number of videos that are tagged with competition=high. The second number is the total number of videos for each age group. The percentages are based on the comparison between the two numbers.// Ages 2-9: 3/11=27% Ages 10-19: 11/41=26.8% Ages 20-29: 12/49=24.5% Ages 30-39: 4/27=14.8% Ages 40-49: 1/16=6.2% Ages 50-59: 0/5=0% Ages 60-69: 0/3=0%

Thus, based on this sample set, we can say with reasonable confidence that competition is helpful in motivating learners under the age of 30. For example, in his video, Sean talks about a Math Blasters video game that he played in elementary school to learn math and focuses on the motivating aspect of the competition inherent in the game (competing on the computer to "blast" to the next level) as well as competition amongst his classmates in regards to who had the highest scores in the game. In addition, Mihn Tam says that competition amongst groups and timed activities is what made a leaning experience in her 20s particularly memorable. However, as learners enter their thirties and beyond, we see a dramatic drop in relative percentages of people who list competition as as a fun and motivational factor in their learning experience. This is particularly interesting in relation to the gender breakdown of the sample audience. Originally, I thought I would see more of a difference between males and females, than between age demographics, but it turned out to be the opposite. Overall, based on the sample set, 17/85 females and 14/67 males interviewed (roughly 20% of the gendered population in both cases) and 31/152 (roughly 20% of the total audience) placed a high value on competition in relation to fun and motivating learning experiences, thus suggesting a similar outlook along gender lines. All of this implies that competition is an important par of learning, but not overwhelmingly so. It suggests that competition should be considered as a motivating learning component, especially when designing experiences for younger learners, but should be de-emphasized if learning is targeted to an older audience.

2) **High learner interaction is seen as motivational and fun across the board, but the sample set suggests a dramatic de-emphasis on this aspect of the learning experience in learners ages 40-59.** **Rather, learners in this age range seem to value the INDIVIDUAL learning experience.**

There is a dramatic downturn (20 percentage points) in the value of learner interaction in the 40-59 year age range. (//Interaction with other learners = a lot//) Ages 2-9: 4/11=36.4% Ages 10-19: 24/41=58.5% Ages 20-29: 28/49=57.1% Ages 30-39: 11/27=40.7% Ages 50-59: 1/5=20% (1 male)** Ages 60-69: 2/3=66%
 * Ages 40-49: 3/16=18.7% (3 female)

I really expected women to place high value on interaction at this age based both on the trends and commonly accepted assumptions that women value social interaction in learning and gaming experiences. However, looking at this sample set, this does not seem to be the case. In looking at the numbers, high learner interactivity is seen as motivational and fun across the board for most of the demographic groups surveyed, but there is a dramatic change in these trends in the 40-59 age range. The discrepancy could, in part, be based on the trajectory of the interview and also the impression of the interviewer (most of the interviews in these age ranges were not self interviews). It might also point to the fact that women (especially) and men (to a slightly lesser extent) in this age range are more introspective and perhaps value the individual experience because it might be the first time in their lives that they have the time or resources to devote to themselves. (Fully 1/3 or 7/21 experiences in the 40-59 age range involved NO interaction with others.) Overall, the 40-59 age range is a time when the children of these people are older and less dependent, thus allowing people of this age to focus more on themselves. A larger sample set would be needed to make a broad assumption regarding people at this age range, but this is a very interesting discrepancy that should be further explored and could allow instructional designers to better target this rapidly growing portion of the population.

3) **There is an intrinsic desire to learn when the initial challenge is high.**

Almost half of the total population surveyed (71/152=46.7%) reported that a high initial challenge was a motivating factor in getting them to learn. The age AND gender breakdown as far as a high initial challenge mostly mirrored the overall impression (44.7% of women and 49.2% of men valued a high initial challenge), though it is important to note that the emphasis does drop off a bit after age 30, with numbers of interviewees after that age who valued a high initial challenge being closer to 1/3 of the population rather than 1/2 (see below). Overall, this implies that learners generally like a challenge, as long as they are given the tools to succeed. Many of the videos highlighted the personal satisfaction as a result of overcoming the high initial challenge, thus suggesting that the individual drive to conquer a challenge can be extremely motivating and rewarding in the end, as long as the initial challenge is not overly difficult so that learners feel there is no possible means of success. For example, in Leo's video, he talks about a gymnastics class which was extremely challenging and often resulted in people failing and having to change their major. But rather than viewing this high initial challenge as an impediment to learning, Leo, like many other people, concluded that "learning something that I never thought I could do made the learning experience really worthwhile...". While the sample size on this is rather small and could benefit from additional research, it is extremely valuable as an instructional or game designer to know that most learners appreciate some sort of a challenge and actually respond to the learning better because at the end there is a great sense of personal accomplishment.

//(The content was very challenging (at least initially)//) Ages 2-9: 5/11=45% Ages 10-19: 21/41=51.2% Ages 20-29: 29/49=59.1% Ages 50-59: 1/5=20% (1 male) Ages 60-69: 1/3=33%**
 * Ages 30-39: 9/27=33%**
 * Ages 40-49: 5/16=31.3% (3 female)

4) **Appeal of human interest and emotional connection to the learning content is the same, regardless of gender.**

This seems to fly in the face of traditionally held beliefs that females are learn better and are more attracted to activities that provide a realistic emotional connection. In this particular sample set, 22.4% of both female and males (female 19/85 and male 15/67) indicated that content with a high emotional connection about real people and their stories were motivating and fun. Generally, as Schell discusses in The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses (p.103-105), females like games and experiences that inspire emotion and have connections to the real world. While this seems partially true in this sample set, the fact that the exact same percentage of the male population values this, is very interesting. Given the generally accepted ideas, one would expect the male percentage to be much lower. In addition, one would expect there to be a large discrepancy in the value that fantasy is given in a learning experience. This is not the case, however, with this sample set. 7.1% of females and 13.4% of males place high value on learning experiences that focus primarily on role play and fantasy. The difference in the realm of fantasy is not statistically significant enough to fit the broad assumption that male learners would be more interested in experiences that have their basis in fantasy and not reality (and the sample set actually implies that they would, by a small margin, prefer realistic, human stories as part of the learning experience). So, what are we to make of this? Is our sample set THAT different from the general population? I think that much of the discrepancy has to do with the way the questions were asked and the way the videos were categorized. Since the interviewer categorized both interviews, it would be helpful to begin by asking the actual interviewee to "rate" the learning experience after the interview, to ensure that the ratings were that of the actual interviewee. Also, I think the appeal also depends heavily on the type of learning experience. For example, there were several videos about physical activities (dancing, gymnastics, personal training, etc.)--for most of these learning experiences human interest/emotional connection and/or fantasy were irrelevant to the information being presented. More targeted research and interview questions are needed to determine whether our sample set indicates a shift in the generally accepted gendered learning preferences.

5) **Physical movement is a highly motivating component that enriches the learning experience.**

40% of the overall interviewees indicated that physical movement was a motivating and fun part of their learning experience. While there was a slight difference in the gender breakdown (with 43.2% of males and only 38.8% of females listing high amount of physical movement as an important part of their learning experience), overall, one can conclude that it was still a significant component of the experience. The age breakdown, for the most part, validated the overall impression of the sample population, with percentages of people who considered high physical movement to be fun or motivating falling somewhere in the 30-40% range. (see below) Many of the learning experiences were actually teaching some type of physical activity (cross country skiing [Barbara], swing dancing [Daniel], surfing [Kimberly], motorcycle riding [Mechelle], gymnastics [Leo], hip-hop [Lana]). This seems to imply that if more than one sense and/or part of the body is engaged in the learning experience, in retrospect, learners remember it as both motivational and fun. This certainly makes sense if the learning itself is focused on a physical outcome, but I think more research should be done to see if this value that is placed on physical activity can make traditionally static learning activities more engaging. For example, if someone were learning multiplication tables, would incorporating some kind of physical movement help make the learning more memorable? The data from this small sample set implies that the answer would be yes, (as do videos such as mine and Trevor's [learning about the 1850s by panning for gold]) but again, more research would be needed to see if that was indeed true.

//(Amount of physical movement required=high//) Ages 2-9: 5/11=45.4% Ages 10-19: 13/41=31.7% Ages 20-29: 27/49=55.1% Ages 30-39: 8/27=29.6% Ages 40-49: 7/16=43.8% Ages 50-59: 2/5=40% Ages 60-69: 1/3=33%

Reflections
I have a pretty extensive background in gender studies, so I began my analysis by looking at gender differences in many of the defined categories. What I found, however, was that there actually seemed to be more statisitcally significant differences between age groups, as opposed to between genders. This was surpising to me, especially given the common assumption that girls learn different from boys. I have indicated places where additional research would help to either solidify or refuet the generalizations I gleaned from this small sample set. In particular, I think the questions asked in the interviews need to be more targeted in order to fully understand the elements that make learning fun and exciting.